The Selma Bears became the CIF Central Section Division 5 Champions on Morro Bay's home turf on Friday night, defeating the Pirates 32-28 in a game that had the crowd on the tip of their toes up until the very last play of the game.
The Bears took a commanding 25-7 lead late into the second quarter before Sands Dougherty does what Sands Dougherty always does, and let it fly. Ryder Busch was on the receiving end of two touchdown passes to cut the deficit 25-20 as the third quarter came to a close.
On fourth-and-1, Selma completed a 60-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead by two scores. To counter that score, John Myers caught a touchdown pass from Dougherty in the endzone along with the 2-point conversion to make it 32-28. Selma turned possession over on downs with under a minute left in the game.
Dougherty completed three long passes for first downs to keep the drive going, but with just seconds left on the clock Dougherty couldn't find anyone downfield for one last attempt. Taking the ball himself, the Bears eventually stopped the run attempt with no time left and left their mark on the field, being crowned Central Section Division 5 Champions.
The Pirates might have fallen just short of being crowned winners for the first time since 2021, but there's a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving Holiday break. Morro Bay took their 2-5 record, turned it around, and went head first into playoffs. They defeated Reedly, Atascadero for the second time this season, took down Bishop Union, before falling just short to Selma.
The Pirates finish their season 7-7 and bid their seniors a farewell.
